Author: Owner

The Pileup
Newsletter of the CDXA

AA4ZZ	Paul Trotter	President
W4GRW	Bill Fisher	Vice-Pres.
W3ZL	Cliff Wagoner	Sec.-Treas.
K4MD	Joe Simpkins	Cluster Mgr.
NV4A	John Forbus	Contest Mgr.
W3GQ	Paul Sturpe	W4 QSL Bureau Manager
WB4BXW	Wayne Setzer	Webmaster
WA2TGE	Mike Keziah	Editor

Christmas Party at Big Daddy’s
The annual CDX Christmas party was held in grand style at Big Daddy’s in Mooresville, NC in early December. The attendees were a joyous group dining on the various menu options available. New officers were elected and began serving their terms on January 1, 2017. The new president is Paul Trottter, Vice President is Bill Fisher, Secretary/Treasurer is Cliff Wagoner, Cluster Manager is Joe Simpkins, Contest Manager is John Forbus,W4 QSL Bureau Manager is Paul Strupe, Webmaster is Wayne Setzer and Pileup Editor is Mike Keziah. The evening closed with the presentation of various awards mentioned later in the Pileup article

2016 Christmas Party at Big Daddy’s in Mooresville

CDXA PacketCluster & Other Communication Systems
K4MD (AR Cluster via Telnet)	k4md.no-ip.com
W4DXA (AR Cluster via Telnet)	w4dxa.no-ip.com
CDXA Repeater 147.18 MHz (+600 )	W4DXA, Near Fort Mill, SC
World Wide Web Homepage	www.cdxa.org
Wednesday Luncheon (11:30 AM)	Skyland Family Restaurant, 4544 South Boulevard, Charlotte, NC

New Member Corner
Fred Bennett, NZ4DX, is a new club member from Greenville, NC. Fred has held numerous calls over the years (KB2DPX, N2IGD, WN2R, N2FJ and HL9AA when stationed in South Korea during 1991.) He is the QSL manager for KP2M and YJ8RN.
CW is his favorite mode and 30 meters is his favorite band. Fred loves DXing and contesting. He is currently operating in limited space using a G5RV antenna. He has plans to raise his SteppIR soon.
He has never run more than 100 watts and has 190 countries worked and confirmed. It is his dream to be part of a DXpedition in the future.

2016 CQWW CWAC Wrap-Up
Paul Ponak, AD4IE CDXA's total score in the 2016 CQ World-Wide contest this year was just shy of 19,000,000 points at 18,854,984, with 9,275,591 in the SSB portion and 9,579,383 in the CW portion. CDXA members competed for first place in our Contest Within A Contest (CWAC) awards in six categories. Each winner received a fifty dollar gift card for Outback Steak House, also good at Carrabba's and the Bonefish Grill.
The winners were:
Top Combined Score - K7BV - 2,454,168 points.
Top Dxpedition – K2SX, - 2,552,846 points.
Top Phone Score – K5EK - 1,373,628 points.
Top Phone Score - Low Pwr -W3ZL—133,965 points.
Top CW Score – W3GQ -1,411,274 points.
Top CW Score, Low Pwr – AA4R - 585,120 points.
Members who completed 1000 or more QSO's combined in the phone and CW contests each received a twenty-five dollar Outback gift card. The winners were: N4PQX, W3OA, AA4V, N4SF.
Members who completed 500 or more QSO's combined in the phone and CW contests each received a certificate and a chance to win a twenty-five dollar Outback gift card. Those who qualified were: K4KAY, KU4V.
Members who completed 250 or more QSO's combined in the phone and CW contests each received a chance to win a twenty-five dollar Outback gift card. Those who qualified were: K2SD, N4UFP, AE4VJ.
K4KAY and K2SD won the gift certificate drawings.
Here are some edited soapbox comments that I received from members after the CW contest:
KC4G: In spite of propagation numbers that looked fairly low, there was plenty of good DX to be worked this weekend, I was able to pick up one All Time New One. So – all in all – a pretty good contest.
K2SD: My only working antenna was my R8 vertical – pileup busting was rough!
W4WNT: This was my first contest using the Icom IOC-7300. The spectrum scope is amazing. I was using a vertical and a low hanging G5RV, need to find a potato gun to raise the G5RV!
W4TJE: Hello de one of the cdxa guys in SW Virginia. This was my first participation in an HF contest.
N4PQX: Just a few random hours of S&P here and there as time permitted. Conditions about the same as the phone contest best I could tell with the random operating.

The Pileup
Official Newsletter of the Carolina DX Association
Copyright 2016
Published monthly 10 times per year, excluding the months of June and December.
The purpose of the association is to secure for the members the pleasures and benefits of the association of persons having a common interest in Amateur Radio.
Members of the CDXA shall adhere to “The Amateur’s Code” as published from time to time in The ARRL Handbook for Radio Amateurs, and shall consist of those valid licensed amateur operators having an interest in promoting amateur radio. Long distance communications (DX) is of special interest to members of the association, but said interest is not a requirement of membership.
Yearly dues are $25.00. A second licensed Amateur family member living in the same household can join for $5.00 for a total family price of $30.00 per year. The total price for 3 or more licensed family members living in the same household is only $35.00 per year. All family members enjoy full member status. Dues are payable annually in December by check or through the CDXA website, to the Secretary/Treasurer:
Cliff Wagoner, W3ZL
P. O. Box 577
Davidson, NC 28036
Address, telephone, and email address changes should be directed to the Secretary/Treasurer at the above address or via email at: jcw53@cornell.edu.

Paul Trotter (AA4ZZ), CDXA President, presenting Tabitha with a Check for $350 and a laptop computer as a Christmas Thank You for her service as the Wednesday luncheon waitress.

DX King Contest Within A Contest for 2017
As we’ve been doing every year for quite a while now, we will be running our DX King competition which is based on CQ magazine's DX Marathon. The goal is to “work as many countries and zones as possible at least once during the calendar year”. For 2017 we will again raffle off a $100 gift card (details to follow.).
The rules of our DX King competition follow those of CQ Magazine's DX Marathon exactly, and we use their scoring spreadsheet as well. The goal stated above couldn’t be simpler. You can work countries/zones both inside and outside of other contests. …working contests is a really easy way to add to your score, and help CDXA’s total contest scores as well. How much simpler could it be? …and it’s also a way to keep up with how you’re doing with your country count during the year.
The scoring is easy. You add the number of countries that you have worked that are on the CQ list of countries to the number of zones worked all during the calendar year 2017. Full rules are at: www.dx HYPERLINK http://www.dxmarathon.com/Rules/2017/2017%20Rules.htm.
The Countries list is at: www.dxmarathon.com/cou HYPERLINK http://www.dxmarathon.com/countrieslist/countrieslist.htmn
Please read the official rules first, but here is a capsule version:
There are 3 entry classes:
Unlimited - according to your license
Limited - 100 watts, antennas may be directional
Formula – 5 watts or less or up to 100 watts, simple vertical or wire antennas only
QSL verification is not needed. You may use packet cluster or other forms of spotting assistance.
CQ magazine provides an Excel spreadsheet for score submission at www.d HYPERLINK http://www.dxmarathon.com/ Your 2017 entry MUST be in their format, and be submitted to CQ by January 10, 2018 by 2359 Zulu. If your logging program won’t do a direct conversion to the DX Marathon format (which is an Excel spreadsheet) CQ’s website has links to conversion programs which will do that for you.
Here are the rules for the CDXA DX King competition:
Certificates will be awarded for the top five scores in each of the three classes.
For 2017 there will be a $100 gift awarded by raffle among the entrants who have scored 150 or more points.
Final standings will be determined by the DX Marathon scores published in CQ.
After reaching a score of 100 (or sooner if you wish) fill out the on-line form at the CDXA website here. Please do this by the 6th of each month.
This has proven to be an exceptionally popular contest with our members and we're hoping that it continues to grow. The scoring is about as simple as can be imagined and remember that contacting DXpeditions in rare zones is a great way to add to your score. Don’t forget that you can work your buddy across the street, and get a point for the US, and for zone 5.
Good luck and wishing you good DX and a winning score.

DX King News
John Forbus, NV4A
1: The 2016 competition is over and the entry submission deadline has past. The 2017 competition has started. See the announcement in this issue of the Pileup.
2: Here are the reports for the 2016 DX King competition. These are the scores I have as of December 31:
Talk about a close finish! Our preliminary results show 2 points between K5EK and K7BV, with W3GQ and W4HG not that far behind. That’s like the first and second place cars finishing the 24 Hours of Le Mans within a couple car lengths of each other! Stay tuned to see what CQ Magazine ultimately has to say.

Software in the Shack, a Review of Ham Radio Deluxe
Mike Keziah (WA2TGE)
We hams either love or despise software in the shack. There seems to be no middle ground. If you are someone who does not want to use computers in the shack, this would be a good place to stop reading. For those of you who are interested and/or have never used a computer in the shack, read on. With the variety of software offerings available today, the contesters, DXers and rag chewers are all well represented. There are software options for all. Many of you are familiar with some of the internet sites offering services (QRZ, LotW, eQSL, etc). This discussion will cover my experience with Ham Radio Deluxe over the past 10 years. While my experience is typically mine, I make no claims that HRD is the best software for the shack. In my opinion, there is no perfect software package that will work for everyone. We tend to use that software we feel comfortable using and live with its' limitations.
Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) began as an effort many years ago by one individual trying to build rig control software. As so often happens with software supported by one individual, his interests were attracted by other projects and Ham Radio Deluxe fell on hard times. A few years ago it was purchased and supported by HRD Software, LLC. Up until the takeover by HRD Software, LLC the product was free but the full-time support made by a salaried staff have improved the product dramatically. It is now available for a fee.
The product is a suite of several programs linked together that cover:
Rig Control
Digital Operations
Rotator Control
Logging and DX Cluster Support
Satellite Tracking
Each of the above programs may be displayed on individual displays or a single display, depending
on display availability. If there are functions that are of no interest, they may be ignored and not started. In other words, if you are interested in rig control and logging, none of the other functions (rotator control, digital operations, satellite tracking) need be started. Installation requires information about who you are, what subscriptions (QRZ, eQSL, LotW, and appropriate passwords, etc) you would like to have linked to HRD.
In addition to the software, there is a very well written manual covering the important aspects of the software.
Rig Control: Rig control operates with almost all radios. The list of supported radios is too long for this article (see http://ham-radio-deluxe.com/supported_radios.html). There is an included profile for all supported radios that make available a series of default controls, both sliders and buttons, that permit access to many of those hard to find menu driven and front panel functions available on your radio. If multiple radios are in use, HRD permits you to choose which radio profile to make active. It has been my experience rig control adds a great deal of convenience to using menu functions, especially those I would not have used because the of the time required to access menus manually. This includes either remembering where the menu item exists or stopping to get the rig handbook and looking up the entry for the menu item needed. The display also contains many of the more common controls usually available on the front panel of the rig .In addition, all of the features of the radio are still available from the rig itself For those of you who wish to modify the rig control screen to suit your operating habits, a screen modification capability is available as well. In my shack I have four separate displays attached to my computer and rig control is always displayed. If you have a single display, you can easily swap between rig control and any other HRD program with the “Alt + Tab” key combination. Some users are using HRD to operate their rigs remotely over the internet.
Rotator Control: While I have no personal experience with rotator control, there is a built-in interface for all computer interfaced rotator controllers. Example are the M2 RC2800PX, Green Heron RT-2x series, Yaesu GS-232, MDS RC-1 and Hy-Gain DCU Series. Antenna bearings are generated from contact information, drop down country lists, mercator or great circle projection maps and sent to the rotator. A click of the mouse and your beam is pointed to the correct heading for your contact.
Digital Operations: Digital operations are available with the addition of an audio interface between the computer sound card and the radio. The digital modes available are too many to mention (see http://ham-radio-deluxe.com/supported_modes.html) For those of you who have difficulty with CW, there is a CW interpreter/sender in the digital operations program. Spending a little time with the RF gain you can achieve reasonable CW copy. It is my experience that using the CW interpreter function requires turning the RF gain down significantly. There seems to be an overload problem when the RF gain is left in the highest position. Digital Operations supports sending from a hand key, paddle, automatic keyer (WinKey) or keyboard. There is a waterfall display similar to all programs supporting digital modes. A simple click on the waterfall tunes the rig to the selected signal. A mouse click will also move tuning to an unused frequency for calling CQ. If you like to use macros in digital modes they are available and can be differentiated depending on digital mode. In other words you can have one set of macros for PSK-31 and a different set for RTTY, etc. In addition to the above, there is a special screen , Super Sweeper, that will copy up to 40 QSOs (within the band-pass of your receiver) simultaneously and with the click of the mouse, tune your rig and zero beat the chosen signal. The Super Sweeper screen is valuable when working almost any digital mode.
Logbook: As expected the Logbook program is a logging tool for your contacts. It is connected to the Rig Control program to gather pertinent information for logging, including frequency, mode, time information and (operator name if a contact is previously stored in the log) and if QRZ is enabled the QTH, maidenhead coordinates and operator name are entered. The log is also scanned for previous log entries for this contact and if present, they will be displayed on the Add Log Entry screen. The Logbook can also be connected to QRZ and eQSL and LotW and makes interacting with these internet applications a sim
ple single keystroke operation. For example, uploading to LotW is a highlighting of the log entries to be up loaded and pressing the LotW Upload key. Downloading LotW is also a simple operation, just press the LotW Download key. QSL Cards may be manually entered in the logbook to confirm QSOs and mailing labels for outgoing QSLs can be printed automatically. In addition Award Filters are available for your current award status and a list of needed entities are presented. If the needed QSOs already exists but are not confirmed, they are presented as well. The displayed log screen is also modifiable to reflect your personal tastes. In release 6 of the software many new functions were added for DXers and contesters.
Included in the Logbook function is a DX Cluster screen that will allow DX Cluster operation. It will accept custom operands and presents the material in many different ways, complete with filters, etc.
Satellite Tracking: This is another element I have had not used. Basically there is real-time satellite tracking that sends azimuth and elevation information to rotators for automated positioning of the satellite antenna. It calculates doppler shift for satellite transponders and sends the tuning information to Rig Control keeping the radio locked on the transponders passband.
The End ...Finally: This turned into more of an epistle than a review. I have been using HRD in various forms for 10 years and there may be better software available now. The integrated nature of the programs seems to be the strong point for me. That is not to say that integration can’t be achieved with other packages or maybe it says I am too lazy to do the work required to integrate other packages. I have my own set of requirements and this package seems to fit the bill. I have chosen NOT to pay the annual maintenance fees and as a result, I don’t have the latest features. If I see a new feature I think is worth the money, I would probably pay the maintenance fee to get the new feature. However, I need to stress that the software I have seems to run without errors or dumps or any of the myriad of things indicating poor quality control. It is a nicely supported suite of programs that I enjoy using and would heartily recommend to anyone looking for these kinds of functions. Happy Hamming!

A Review of the SPE Expert 2K-FA Linear Amplifier, 6 to 160 Meters
This is a small amplifier being only 14.96” wide, 7.20” high, 16.93” deep. That is where the small stops. It weighs 59.5 pounds. The unit has a built in switching power supply with an input voltage capability from 190 to 255 VAC (47 - 63 Hz). The amplifier also has a built in antenna tuner that supports 6 antenna connections. The amplifier supports two exciters for SO2R operation. The SPE runs 2 KW PEP out for both SSB and CW. Being solid-state, it requires no warm up and is immediately ready to catch that rare DX . Three different output power settings are available, 2KW, 1.2KW and 600 Watts. The drive for the amplifier output is automatically controlled by the amplifier through an ALC/CAT connection during transmission and then reset to full power on STANBY. Amplifier RF power output is supported by 6 MOSFETs (MRF151G) for long lasting life.
The amplifier provides automatic control to control boxes for tunable antennas (SteppIR, Ultrabeam) which follows the exciter tuning knob simplifying their use.
There are 2 CPUs and over 35,000 lines of code to monitor amplifier operations .
With the built-in tuner the amplifier is capable of matching 3:1 SWR on HF and 2.5:1 on 6 meters. Of course there is a tuner memory that remembers the tuner settings by frequency, input radio, and antenna selected.
The amplifier has six output antenna ports. Each port may be programmed for a particular band/antenna/input exciter combination. A maximum of three of the antenna ports can be programmed for use on the same band. All antenna connections are SO239 and there are an additional two connectors for receive only antenna connectors.
The input AC power (190 – 255 VAC) is selected depending on the power source available for the amplifier.
Two computers and 35,000 lines of code continuously monitor temperature, over voltage, over circuit, SWR, reflected power, maximum RF tuner voltage, over drive , and a host of other issues.
Four cooling fan are available. The fans may be set for zero or one fan operation keeping noise to a minimum, however if the temperature inside the amplifier goes above 102 degrees all 4 fans automatically start to cool the amplifier until the temperature is again below 100 degrees.
While the amplifier will produce maximum power for CW and SSB, the amplifier will switch to mid power (1.2 KW) for RTTY.
This amplifier is capable of being connected to all manufacturers' equipment. including Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood, Ten-Tec, Flex Radio and Elecraft and some home brew. With a proper ALC cable ( which can be made up for your transceiver by you or by the American supplier) the amplifier becomes fully automatic and all the operator has to do is turn the VFO on the transceiver.
The tuner in the amplifier can be by-passed . (Don’t use the transceiver tuner if using the amplifier tuner. )
A large LCD displays power out in watts, temperature, SWR before and after the ATU, CAT settings, band, Plate voltage and other information. The amplifier is equipped with USB ports for remote operation.
WR2K Bob

CDXA Continues the Celebration of its’ 35th Year with Activating US Islands
The 35th Year celebration continues with more US Islands on the air as members continue activating islands in surrounding Lakes.
NV4A, W3GQ and W3OA on NC055L and NC056L
Dick Williams, W3OA
Last November 18th was a beautiful Carolina Fall Friday and a great day to qualify two more Lake Norman islands in the US Islands Award Program. A sunny day, water, boats, radios, and buddies. An outstanding way to spend some time playing with our toys.
This was the third trip for Paul, W3GQ, and Dick, W3OA, qualifying Lake Norman Islands. The first two trips are described in July Pileup and October Pileup articles. This time John, NV4A, joined us.
Our first stop was NC055L, known as Gold Mine Island.. This is north of Highway 150 and east of Perth Road. We arrived a little after 11:00 AM and made our first contact at 11:38. By 12:50 we had 55 contacts, evenly split between 7.268 and 14.251 MHz. Two were with Canadian stations. That was enough to qualify NC057L so we move on.
Our second stop was NC056L, also north of Highway 150 but west of Perth Road. Our first contact here was at 2:01 PM. By 3:00 we had 65 contacts, again evenly split between 7.265 and 14.255 MHz.. DX worked included Canada and Italy. This was enough to qualify Island NC054L.
Our station set up is shown in the picture below of John operating from Gold Mine Island.
We all feel this operation was another success and a lot of fun. And we encourage CDXA members to plan similar operations for themselves as a portion of CDXA's 35th anniversary celebration. CDXA has some 100 ft. runs of coax you could use and I'd be glad to loan you the 20/40 dipole we used. Drop me a note (w3oa@roadrunner.com) if you want to discuss planning an island operation.
Activating Lake Norman Island NC058L, U.S. Islands (USI)
With Dick's (W3OA) help, I decided to pursue this activation on December 31, 2016. This is a part of the CDXA 35th Anniversary Celebration using the club call W4DXA. The QTH was Kiser Island in Lake Norman which is directly south of the steam plant on Route 150 in the town of Terrell. The island is reached via a short causeway. I used using my standard mobile setup, a Kenwood TS-50 at 100 watts with a Hamstick lip-mounted on the trunk.
To qualify an activation, you must have 25 QSO's and at least one DX station. We signed on 40 meter SSB at 10 A.M. with Dick spotting me on Telnet. The QSO's quickly came in with 23 logged, including 3 VE's in 24 minutes. I changed frequency to 20 meters SSB and logged 15 more contacts, including an EA7, I1, and another in only19 minutes.
This is a great activity! There are other islands in thisLake Norman and other lakes in the immediate area which have not been activated. Many islands can be reached by car. Dick can advise you, so go have some fun!
73, Cliff, W3ZL
2017 Calendar of Events
Event Name Event Dates
*DX King/CQ DX Marathon Jan 1-Dec 31
CQ World Wide 160 Meter, CW Jan 27-29
*ARRL DX Contest, CW Feb 18-19
CQ World Wide 160 Meter, Phone Feb 24-26
*ARRL DX Contest, Phone Mar 4-5
Charlotte Hamfest Mar 10-11
CDXA Annual Hamfest Banquet TBD
Dayton Hamvention May 19-21
ARRL June VHF QSO Party June 13-15
Field Day June 24-25
CQ World Wide, VHF July 15-16
Shelby Hamfest Sep 1-3
ARRL September VHF QSO Party Sept 9-11
CQ World Wide, RTTY TBD
W4DXCC (SEDCO)/Ten-Tec Hamfest Sept 22-23
*CQ World Wide, Phone Oct 28-29
*CQ World Wide, CW Nov 25-26
ARRL 160 Meter Contest Dec 1-3
ARRL 10 Meter Contest Dec 9-10
*CDXA provides prizes for participation in these contests. There was a bit of confusion about the 10 meter contest this last year. Somehow, the fact that CDXA is no longer offering prizes didn’t get the publicity it should have. Our apologies for that. …but the 10 meter contest is still fun, so please don’t let the lack of prizes stop you from participating, or for sending in your scores.

Win Gift Cards and Trophies
in the ARRL DX Contest
by John Forbus, NV4A
The ARRL International DX Contest will begin with the CW contest starting on Friday February 18 (1900 EST), and the Phone contest will start on March 4 at 1900 EST. Both contests will run for 48 hours. Once again we urge all members to participate to add to our club score. Remember that even if you only make a few contacts it will still help our club, and might give you an ATNO, or at least help you pile up your DX King score.
Our scores for the last few years are shown in the chart below.

Year	CDXA Score	Number of CDXA Entries	Rank in Medium Club Category
2007	7,910,718	30	9
2008	11,293,344	43	3
2009	10,157,613	36	7
2010	22,155,432	46	3
2011	26,587,443	47	5
2012	23,932,758	47	4
2013	26,958,444	49	4
2014	30,100,296	50	8
2015	29,291,437	41	2
2016	26,497,110	49	3

Our results have been consistently in the top 10. Last year we dropped a spot to 3rd place in spite of having more participants, although considering the competition and the propagation, that was a good showing. Now let’s move back up this year! To keep things going we are again offering some excellent prizes for this year’s participants.
First place prizes: Each winner can choose a trophy or a $50 Gift Card (details to follow.) The DXpedition and Multi-op prizes will only be awarded to an entrant whose score is high enough to have won one of the other first place prizes:
Top combined CW plus phone score
Top CW score, low power
Top phone score, low power
Top CW score
Top phone score
Top Multi-op score
Also:
1000 or more QSO's in the CW and phone contests: Each participant can choose a trophy or a $25 gift card.
500 or more QSO's total in the CW and Phone contests: Each participant gets a photo printed CDXA certificate and a chance in the raffle for a $25 gift card.
250 or more QSO's: Each participant gets a chance in a raffle for a $25 gift card.
You can only win one prize. Only members whose scores are eligible for the club competition (meet the 175 mile criteria) as defined in the contest rules can win a gift card or trophy. The rules are available at http://www.arrl.org/arrl-dx. All CDXA members are eligible for the CDXA certificates. Prizes will be awarded based on your claimed score. Let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, or need help in preparing for the ARRL DX Contest. And please let me know if you are planning a DXpedition for the contest.
Now, go make sure this ice and snow didn’t damage anything (….once it warms up a bit anyway) and get ready to go for it!
John Forbus, NV4A
Jtfnv4a@aol.com
703.568.4843 cell

SVHFS conference coming April 28 and 29, 2017
The SVHF Society will hold our convention in Charlotte, NC this year on April 28 and 29 at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Charlotte Airport, 2600 Yorkmont Road, Charlotte, NC 28201. We have arranged rooms at $95; you can call 800-222-TREE and ask for this rate under the name "South East VHF Society". Early registration guest room rate of $89 is offered for reservations made by January 31, 2017, so if you plan to attend, please call now to reserve your room at this lower rate before the end of January. We will have the registration information on the web site soon (http://svhfs.org) so watch for the sign up details. The conference fee for pre-registration is $30, Friday's Luncheon is $15, and the Saturday's banquet is $40. I hope to see many of you there,
Gary Greene, W2ZV, conference committee member.
From the editor…..
Thanks for your patience as I struggled to learn about Microsoft Publisher. A special thank you to Wayne Setzer and John Forbus for their assistance. I have played with single and double column formatting in this issue and I would welcome comments from you about preferences. Some of you may read it online while a few may print it and then read. If either of the formats is better than the other I would appreciate hearing from you. Suggestions and critical comments are always welcome. I hope that as time goes by the quality of my work will improve to the level of my predecessors.
For the record, I would like to establish the 5th of each month as the deadline for The Pileup articles. It is my intention to have the newsletter on the web site around the 15th of each month. Happy Hamming, Good DXing and lots of luck in the contests!
Mike
WA2TGE

The Back Page

JANUARY Contest

?

January Contest Rules
Create text to indicate Lou’s thoughts….
It must be appropriate and held to the same high standard that we have come to expect from CDXA members.
Send your entries to mikekeziah@comporium.net by February 5, 2017.
A blue ribbon panel will review all entries and the winner will have the pleasure of seeing their efforts posted in the February Pileup.

Callsign	Category	Countries	Zones	Total
K5EK	Unlimited	279	40	319
K7BV	Unlimited	277	40	317
W3GQ	Unlimited	256	39	295
W4HG	Unlimited	250	40	290
VE3UTT	Unlimited	225	40	265
N4PQX	Unlimited	218	40	258
K4HC	Limited	201	38	239
K8YC	Unlimited	185	35	220
W1AJT	Unlimited	183	35	218
W3ZL	Formula	165	36	201
W3OA	Unlimited	162	37	199
NV4A	Unlimited	157	34	191
KZ2I	Unlimited	150	39	189
K4FS	Unlimited	142	33	175
N4GBK	Limited	118	31	149
AA4SC	Unlimited	94	26	120
W4WNT	Formula	96	22	118
K4MLD	Formula	89	23	112

January, 2017

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